damnaam

Hiya.

Can't help you out with the list I'm afraid but I can tell you the process is both quick and easy.

My experience - I bought a rather nice digital camera at Panthip earlier this year and the shop provided me with both a receipt AND a form which must be presented to the VAT refund people. There is a time limit between purchase and refund claim on departure - approx 2 months if memory serves but could be 3.

On departure, go to the office, declare what you want a refund for (with the paperwork..) then once you're through security etc you visit another booth and claim your refund. The form says that you can get it in many forms including Euro and Sterling or even refund on your credit card but for some reason there was a 'ploblem' that day so I had to take my refund in Baht and hit the dutyfree.

I got a refund on the camera but the SD card and other accessories do not qualify.

Hope this helps.

Cheers....

Before TAT starts doing cartwheels, they should consider...

...also that these figures are year on year and, as far as I'm aware, the last couple of years Phuket has been struggling in the High season, based on what I've heard having spoken to various business owners there. The terror alert two winters ago, naming Phuket specifically, didn't help. So, perhaps they're getting back to the levels they were at a few years ago???

My TG was lingering around one day, almost sitting on my lap, trying to listen in on a 'phone conversation. When I got off the phone I playfully accused her of being nosey.... Now it could be something in the translation here but she marched off, looked up the meaning of nosey and got really upset I had accused her of this

Is this legit, the Thais dont have lights on at night let alone the day.

I ride a bike sometimes and would hate to get nicked.

This is for sure. If you ride a motorbike at any time you must have the headlight on dipped beam. I got pulled for not complying with this in Phuket earlier this year - took me a whole pack of Marlboro Lights to get the charge dropped

The only purpose my helmet serves is to mess up my hair...

... I've often thought this as I put on my super 'tupperware' strength helmet.

However, having seen the result of what happened to an ex-Phuket resident mate of mine's head and face, having stuck it through the windscreen of an oncoming tuk-tuk (not the tuk-tuk drivers fault, of course...) whilst not wearing a helmet, well, now I cannot see any excuse for not wearing one. I say ex-Phuket resident 'cos he's been back in Oz for a year now receiving ongoing specialist medical treatment

What do you know then that I don't?

I know that many fish from Laka Malawi in Africa have developed overslung top lips to better remove and feed on the algae that grows so well in the high salt content alkaline water there.

Sublime

I've absolutely nothing against these free travelling young whippersnappers but...

Your opening gambit, which preceded a long list of things you DO have against them. I'd love to see the list of things you'd come up with against a section of society you say you do have something against - it'd be a record breaker

I'm baffled. Why live like a tight arse if you don't need to?

so, by your definition, anyone who is not completely free-spending and keeps an eye what funds they have available, is a tight arse??? Right-ho, that's cleared that one up then....

Shame, it was quite funny to start with.

With the emphasis on quite......

I got funky party house / hiphop /70s / 80s/ Disco and 14 years experience....

..... and a really cool avatar to go with it

If you've got all these cards and cash, why are you on a budget?

Erm...... because I'm not someone with unlimited funds? Your stupid question deserves a stupid answer, however I'll go with - I had one debit and one credit card. One is handy for not carrying around too much cash at any time, the other for emergencies.

Lots of contracts I work on have millions of pounds involved yet there's still a budget....

Can't see what all the fuss is about. Thousands of people have to sleep over at London Heathrow over the course of a year and that airport will NEVER be finished....

Guess it's easy to make broad generalizations, much more difficult when one takes into account that there are all different kinds of people in the world. ....

.... my sentiments entirely. You cannot tar everyone with the same brush. I did a year backpacking around the world, with S.E Asia forming the last few months of this little adventure.

It was one of the best things I have ever spent time and money on, and taking all the lows and highs together, probably the single most richest experience of my life. Sure there are backpackers with attitude problems, but so are there from every walk of life.

From my own experience: you have to haggle sometimes since backpackers are often a target of scams and rip-offs. It's also not easy to stretch a budget over a long time, especially when you're caught between the desire to experience everything you want yet not go home early.

It's necessary to wear your 'day-pack' on your front at times since, if you're on the move, it's likely that you have debit/credit cards, traveller cheques, passport, tickets etc, in there. To 'lose' all these things because they're out of sight, even if only briefly, could be disastrous.

There are probably millions of package holiday tourists every year who vacation for a week or two somewhere that initially was discovered by backpackers and then became popular. Sure Rough Guide and LP featured in my trip, and apart from some places in South America, I can't otherwise claim to have gone far off the 'beaten track' but then, it's all relative and certainly more thought out than your average holiday-maker who returns from a two week break somewhere claiming to have discovered this amazing place and really gotten into the culture.

At the end of the day, it's a big world out there and if more people made an effort to go and see at least some of it with their own eyes then I think we'd all live in a better place

Cheers....!

Can't believe this is so off-topic but I need to know - DJ are you doing an album cover per day as your avatar? Nice one with New Order the other day but please tell me that isn't Lionel R you're sporting today

Cheers...

This is what I and my local football club have been up to in this respect;

http://www.wisa.org.uk/cgi/l/articles/inde...ion=show&id=449

If you need any further info please feel free to message me. Cheers

I too can speak from experience on this one.

My take;

Having spent the past few seasons working on a liveaboard at The Similans I have witnessed many beautiful things and, unfortunately, the odd ugly thing. The comments above, between them make many good points.

PADI Open Water divers are equipped, I believe, to dive safely to max 18 metres. However, local knowledge is priceless regarding currents, tides and general local diving conditions and any sensible diver will avail themselves of the divemaster guide on the dive. On the boats I worked on it was not allowed for customers to solo dive or dive without a guide unless DM rating or above. I believe this is a fair approach to recreational diving without infringing on peoples enjoyment and safety.

I have witnessed errors of judgment by some members of the dive industry, who seemed more into the image/lifestyle side of things, rather than being totally dedicated to customer safety and enjoyment. Where necessary (only once fortunately...) I have reported them to PADI for breach of standard. I could not do this lightly, believe me!

Diving should be safe and fun but any certified diver embarking on some diving in an unfamiliar environment will/should have signed a release form. Yet to see some of the things people do once in the water is unbelievable and contrary to what they would have been taught in training - just because they are on holiday. I'm talking about finning straight through a sea fan, to breathing from an air lock, through some weird shit that some divers do whilst experiencing nitrogen narcosis, even though they were briefed not to go so deep, to refusing to acknowledge signals which were in the dive brief - i.e let's surface - finishing up with a 'mature' overweight diver who refused to recognise their limit and died of a heart attack on our boat before we could even get that person ashore.....

I take being a Divemaster very seriously and just wish that all my divers would too....

...I think for the most part - Lady Boys are alright. They deserve a faire shake like any other person.

I agree with Brit - another facet of a rich and vibrant society. But when going for a slash do they remember that 3 shakes or more is a wank?

..... If you can't debate the FACTS that I bring up, then shut the ###### up.

Well said Wolfie. However, the flaming generally arises when someone insists they offer facts, not opinions, and if these can't be debated then you must shut the ###### up. I'll get my coat...............................

...its cover was blown , i like blowing their cover it really upsets them , especially when they are a good copy of a female .

Never heard it called a cover before

A quick addendum - there's a reasonably well known chain of flight shops around the U.K who promise to beat any available competitors price - web or otherwise. Since they have a shop around the corner from me, I put it to the test and asked them for a quote - they quoted me a price which was not bad but I told them I'd already found a lower price on the web. They told me to bring in a print out of the offer and they would beat it. I did and they did - shaving 10% off their original quote. I guess I can't name them here but if anyone would like details then just drop me a line

I'm leaving Heathrow, EVA Evergreen, on Oct 28, days before BST (officially....) ends - can't wait

LTW must have been written by a guy who had spent too long 'out east' and was running low on money and thinking 'how can I make some more. This bit I can understand...... but that someone published that rubbish, well I'm having trouble with that bit

I feel deep sorrow for their relatives in the U.K...

This happened in the same country that I've seen a gun pulled on a couple of pissed-up falangs in a bar in Phuket last winter who accused their Thai opponents of cheating in a game of pool. So, agreed, different rules, you have to watch what you say, whether you think you're right or not... This applies to virtually anywhere in the world, outside of your own region.

Hey Bob!

I'm more than likely going to be back in Phuket from the beginning of November, not much help to you right now I'm afraid, but have spent a lot of time there previously, and having raced MB's in the past though I just ride to keep fit now, often had this thought about MTBing in Phuket. I'll be in touch. Cheers...

..... Ideological vacuums and theories tend to get blown apart when reality knocks on your door.

Right, as you may have noticed, I was prepared to step away from this topic, believing it to have run its course, But TingTawng's quote here really, and I mean REALLY hits the nail on the head. This is where I am right now, using the analogy of the shit hitting the fan alongside reality knocking on my door.

I'm reluctant to reply to PudgyMelons points any further because, as others have pointed out, I feel this poster is, to a large degree, almost hijacking this topic to his own ends, regardless of the reality. Save to say, to reply to an earlier post which pretty much accuses me of being very naive , the work I have lined up out there can bring in way over B10000 a day, depending on length of contract etc. I've made it very clear I'll support my child financially. As for the taking care of the broken bones and education of which you speak, well, these are free in the U.K, the last vestiges of a once decent society, the few visible reasons why I pay my taxes.

I wasn't having sex with a partner I was thinking of leaving, things turned sour... The one thing I will agree with you on is that I was wrong to not use a condom. I will forever regret this but I don't see myself as 'moaning, wailing etc, just trying to gauge the groundswell of opinion at a difficult time that's all.

TingTawng's comment really should be the epitaph to this topic. I note, also a couple of very valid posts Teach has just added. Amen....

C'mon Guys. Let it go.

This has nothing to do with a forum on Thailand.

Take your arguments elsewhere.

PLEEEZZ

Ooleeber - you're right. This topic has achieved its goal, in my mind. I thank everyone who took the time to post intelligent replies and bid this topic farewell. I'll now stand back as it sinks gracefully into oblivion